Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig, typically referred to as Leunig, is an Australian cartoonist, poet and cultural commentator. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pyjama and the Curly Flats series. He was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth2 June 1945
CountryAustralia
home quite radical rejecting schooling
It is home schooling that is rejecting a narrowness. It is not a radical value system; it's actually quite conservative.
cruel days earn fascists found good hard leftists morning normal proper seeing social welfare
Like normal people, leftists now have to get up in the morning and earn a living, seeing as the fascists have come down so hard on social welfare fraud, and this is the cruel reality. The good old days are gone, and increasingly, leftists are to be found working in ordinary, proper jobs.
energy good hurting imagine life sadly seems spend time
Life seems sadly mishandled by humans, as if it's all too much for them - they spend so much time and energy hurting each other, making things worse, and fouling their own nest, all because they imagine things aren't good enough and should be made much better.
bad drag grow life lose mental might starting time wants
We may lose our memory as we get older, but this might not be such a bad thing - who wants to drag a mental junkyard around at a time of life when you're starting to grow interesting little wings?
cast change economic lose onto resources suddenly talents wits
Out of economic hardship can come change - we are suddenly cast onto our wits and our talents and our resources and our strengths, as we lose all the choices we once had.
bit black carbon dip draw fact lovely mud people steel stick thanks
I give thanks for the fact that I can get this stick with a bit of steel nib on the end, dip it in some black carbon stuff, and draw on paper. Now, people did it the same way 2,000 years ago. And there's something lovely about that play, and making mud pies and a mess. That's a lovely privilege.
inner
Stay out of the loop, the club, the inner circle.
excellence stay
Stay away from excellence at all costs; it stinks.
carry continued decent devout hopes political reasonable regardless shared
Citizens, regardless of their political inclinations, carry a devout sense of their shared culture and its temperament - and, having contributed to it all their lives, hold decent and reasonable hopes for its continued integrity.
clever conscience empty man modern moral silence thinks
Clever modern man is so witless that he thinks moral silence and empty conscience are an advantage.
arises art ends life religion spiritual
Art, like religion, arises from the spirit, but alas, the formalizing of spiritual life all too often ends in hypocrisy.
art call courage freedom love needs seems
Art, it seems to me, doesn't need freedom so much as it needs courage and love - some would call it 'soul' or 'Eros.'
control existence humanity life nature sweet takes waters
Socialised humanity represses nature and degrades human nature; it takes life and waters it down - probably to control it - diluting existence with water that is lukewarm, sweet and murky.
art man meat poetry sadness tender
Existential philosophy, poetry and art - just like sadness - were all unavoidable to a tender young man in the meat works.